First Take: The 'Iron Lady' changed the U.K. forever

Apr. 17, 2013
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Margaret Thatcher, in 1975. / AP

by Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

by Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LONDON -- In the end, Margaret Thatcher, in the phrase adopted by Facebook's CEO Sheryl Sandberg, who quite coincidentally was visiting the United Kingdom this week, "leaned in."

In life, but also, Wednesday's funeral service made clear, in death.

The mourners inside St. Paul's Cathedral in London were told by the Right Rev. Richard Chartres, who presided over the service at the 17th century church in his role as the bishop of London, that the service was "neither the time nor the place" for politics. That was in keeping with Thatcher's wishes.

"There is an important place for debating policies and legacy; for assessing the impact of political decisions on the everyday lives of individuals and communities. Parliament held a frank debate last week -- but there and today is neither the time nor the place," he said.

Yet speaking of her outspoken character, it was as if he almost couldn't help himself.

"After the storm of a life led in the heat of political controversy, there is a great calm," he said.

"The storm of conflicting opinion centers on the Mrs. Thatcher who became a symbolic figure, even an 'ism.' "

And there you have it.

Margaret Thatcher, loved and loathed in equal measure in the United Kingdom, is the only British prime minister to have carved out a whole system or political ideology.

Not even Sir Winston Churchill did that.

She was for freedom. She was for the markets. She wanted a smaller, more efficient state. And, yes, she got it, mostly.

And in a sense she also got the last word Wednesday.

London's Metropolitan Police was prepared for far worse protests than the mixed bag of turned backs and muffled shouts that occasionally arose from the depths of the crowd of thousands that lined the route of Thatcher's funeral procession.

Above all, this showed that while the United Kingdom is united, it is not necessarily united in its grief for Thatcher's death.

The so-called Iron Lady -- content with an "ism" -- most likely would have approved.